Since declining comment yesterday on the woes of the governor of her adopted home state, Hillary Clinton has remained mum on this disgraced Democrat. (H/t Glenn Reynolds’ excellent list of links on this scandal.)

She just can’t come out and say Spitzer should resign. That might come across as forced and hypocritical given how she continually stood by her man when his various indiscrettions came to light.

This scandal makes Americans wonder if we want a repeat of the 1990s, having the drama of an unfaithful Chief Executive (in this case, First Spouse) back on center stage, along with the scandals associated with her husband’s Administration.

Democratic scandals remind voters of the downside of the Clinton years. And this particular one more so than many of the less reported ones.

39 Comments

When the story first broke, I wasn’t sure how it would play (or actually, how HRC’s campaign would try to play it). The sight of Spitzer’s wife looking devastated made me think "Hillary knows her. She’s going to come out with some grand Sister Moment and leech off this woman’s victimhood.Â But I too was surprised at the silence instead. Hillary’s likely got a streak of "No one has suffered as much as I have" in her. And now that window is closed and I agree – the only thing I can think of is Bill Clinton making frantic phone calls…

Spitzer is a junk yard dog with an easily aroused temper over the merest perceived slight. He came after his enemies hammer and tong and he crushed them into tiny little bits. Hillary is a grifter who specializes in fabricating her biography, posturing and scratching her way to her goal.
Hillary is undoubtedly jealous of Spitzer’s style. Spitzer used whores for his self-righteous ego gratification. Hillary uses whole groups of "victims" in exactly the same manner.
Client #9 is an object lesson in how hard the big man can fall. Hillary has developed the ability to bounce right back up in your face no matter what blow knocks her down.Â

Hillary’s comment on Spitzer? "Maybe I will measure the drapes in your office if the Oval eludes me."

If Elliot Spitzer is "John" #9 and he is the Governor of New York, Â just think how politically connected and powerful "John" 1 must be. Â Maybe there is a reason Ms. Hillary is playing possum on this, could it be that Bubba is "John 1" and his name is in the trick book.

"while pausing, let us compile a list of those GOP stalwarts who also disgraced themselves in the past few yearsâ€¦my or my: rather extensive list, right?"Yes, extensive (Foley, Livingston-same time as Clinton, Craig, etc), but the GOP tosses them overboard stat. As for the Dems, well from Kennedy to Clinton to Jefferson(he of the $100,00 cash in the fridge) it’s the same- Let’s stand behind our boy and above all, let’s not lose that seat.Â

If the Republicans have any sense at all (and the NY GOP doesn’t – impeachment talk and all), they will keep quiet about all this (Larry Craig, Mark Foley, David Vitter, Jack Ryan spring to mind).
As soon as the righteous-right starts blabbing, the focus will be on the blabbers. As long as Spitzer is twisting in the wind, it’s stupid to deflect the spotlight.

Riiiight… of course, a conviction for tapping a foot in a stall is -exactly the same- as soon-to-be convicted of human trafficking and engaging the services of a prostitute (reportedly to the provable tune of at least $80,000 over 10 years). Exactly the same. Yup. No difference whatsoever.

@#3–Kevin. Before you whip out your can of High-and-Mighty and start spraying everyone in the room, please remember thatÂ a lot of usÂ WANTED Craig to resign. The Gov. of Idaho already had his replacement ready to go, but you can’t fire a US Senator.Â Unfortunately, the idiot decided he liked the power of his office in Washington more than he liked his own self-respect.
Let’s get something on the record here: with Clinton, it wasn’t the sex with an intern, it was the perjury before a grand jury. With Craig, it was toe-tapping. With Vitter, it was solicitation. With Spritzer, we have what looks like a form of money laudering to hide the transaction, plus the Mann Act, which is transporation of a person across state lines for the purposes of prositution. To sum up, we have republicans who are guitly of sleazy sex, and democrats who are guilty of other crimes besides sex. What liberals want to do is to make it all about sex (which it is NOT) so that they can sweep it under the rug as fast as possible.

I can not understand how a liberal gay gives a pass to Spitzer and not to Craig. It goes like this: A hetero can go whoring, but a gay who claims to be hetero can not troll for gay sex. So where does that leave a gay who has a partner and goes trolling? Â Â

# 3, 5, 10, 11 ad naseum:
Wrong! The difference between Spitzer and Craig/Foley/Vitter/Ryan is that Republicans have widely called for the resignations of all of the above. Democrats only call for the resignation of Republicans. We hold our elected leaders accountablem Democrats never do.

Bill Clinton: perjurer, adulterer, disbarred, boycotted by the justices of the SCOTUS, prohibited from ever appearing before the SCOTUS. Democrats defended him to the hilt, refused to impeach him,Â and he is now an icon of their party.

Hillary Clinton: Campaign has been convicted numerous times of major FEC violations, FBI files discovered hidden inÂ her personal residence in violation of the law, travel-gate, rose hill law firm, insider trading, etc etc etc. Elected senator from NY and is now a front runner for the Democrat presidential nomination.

Sandy Burgkar: Stole and destroyed top secret national security documents to prevent the american people from knowing the truth about the negligene and incompetence of the Clinton administration. Is now a top adviser to the Clinton campaign.

William Jefferson: caught with $90,000 of taxpayer cash in his freezer and caught forcing the national guard to rescue his belongings when they should have been rescuing people. Still sits in congress.

Harry Reid: Up to his eyeballs in corrupt-reaking land deals. Has been covered extensively by the alternative media, but the mainstream press refuses to pay attention. Leader of the House of representatives.

Norman Hsu:Â Biggest Democratic fundraiser with ties to every prominent Democrat in congress, the DNC, convicted of illegal fundraising. Not oneÂ Democrat has been held accountable for hte millions he funneled their way.

Dianne Feinstein: Funneled billions in defense contracts to companies her husband sat on the boardÂ of from which he made millions in profits. Still sits comfortably in Democrat leadership.

Jackass Murtha: was video taped meeting to discuss taking a bribe. The FBI has identified him as an â€œunindicted co-conspiritorâ€ in the ABSCAM scandal. He still sits in congress, also re-elected even after the video came out. Has accused our troops of heinous crimes from rape to massacre, all of which they have been acquitted for. Again, still sits comfy and cozy in congress.

JimMcDermott:Â found guilty in civil court of violating the civil rights of Rep. John Boehner and ordered to pay $800,000 in finesâ€”Democrats refuse to allow his case to come before the ethics committee, and of course he still sits in congress (re-elected).

Alcee Hastings: Impeached as a federal judge for corruption and taking bribes. So what did Democrats do? They elected him to congress! Now a chairman of the Hillary campaign.

And I could go on and on.

Meanwhile Republicans forced Mark Foley to resign for writing suggestive emails to receptive ADULTS. Yes, young adults, but adults nonetheless and adults who were receptive to his attention.

Yes, the difference is that Republicans have standards and scruples, and Democrats have none whatsoever.

Let’s see, Sen. Craig pled guilty to a misdemeanor;Â Mark Foley resigned but was never charged ( as far as I can recall and research); David Vitter was never charged or arrested, but the obvious charge would have been solicitation. which is normally a misdemeanor; and Jack Ryan was caught up in a messy divorce by a wife who wanted a payday settlement (folks who remember that case recall that Jeri Ryan explained that she gad had affairs with two other men because, in the aftermath of her hubby’s suggestion that they go to a sex club, she was repulsed by him and had to seek satisfaction elsewhere.Â No, that doesn’t sound like her lawyer’s advice…).

Anyway, Vitter would be in the weakest case, since it may be that his madame was associated with organized crime.Â But Spitzer is alleged to have been caught up in "structuring", i.e., trying to disguise cash transactions and move money under the Feds radar, in this case for illegal purposes and quite possibly to organized crime associates.Â Daft.

15: Â Just pointing out that breaking the law isn’t the pervue of one political party and one doesn’t party doesn’t have the upper-hand on it. Â Clinton was impeached on perjury about his testimony regarding Lewinsky; a topic that *never* should have been asked in the first place. Â Don’t forget, that investigation started with Whitewater and ended with vindictive cow, Linda Tripp. Â Since the Whitewater investigation never came up with anything, then Mr. Starr had to find some way to justify his years-long job. Â If people have been so high and might about lying under oath about extra marital affairs, then perhaps all our elected officials should undergo such questioning and then let’s see how many of them are truthful. Â How about, say, Mr. Gingrich who was carrying on an affair with his not-yet third wife while he was still married to his second wife *and* leading the charge against President Clinton.
Spitzer, on the other hand, is under investigation for breaking a number of laws. Â He’s trying to perform a pre-emptive strike, similar to the way that slimeball McGreevy did a few years back (yikes, a gay democrat who *doesn’t* support McGreevy and his noble coming out? Â can it be?)

Just pointing out that breaking the law isnâ€™t the pervue of one political party and one doesnâ€™t party doesnâ€™t have the upper-hand on it.

The hell they don’t. See #19 above.

Clinton was impeached on perjury about his testimony regarding Lewinsky; a topic that *never* should have been asked in the first place

Wrong. During an investigation instigated by Janet Reno Bill Clinton was credibly accused of rape. An accusation he later paid big money to make go away. By the end of the investigation he stood accused of rape/sexual abuse by I think seven credible women. The line of questioning was absolutely germaine.

Donâ€™t forget, that investigation started with Whitewater and ended with vindictive cow, Linda Tripp.

"vindictive cow" because she was right? Good point to point out how the Clintons unleashed their war rooms to do everything possible to destroy Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp, Kathleen Wiley, Paula Jones and all the other women who got in their way.

Since the Whitewater investigation never came up with anything

The whitewater investigation landed something like 12-17 Clinton associates in prison, including a sitting Democrat governor. It also yielded pardons for those that remained loyal to the Clintons.

The idea that the Clintons are not guilty because they couldnt be proven guilty is laughable. Hillary was caught redhanded with files she claimed she knew nothing about in her personal residence. Merely the fact that she had them in the White House residence is a violation of the law in and of itself. Yet she was never prosecuted for political reasons. I dont doubt for a second that they were guilty of everything they were accused of. But unfortunately, being guilty and being prosecuted are two very different things when youre a Democrat politician.

And not only was Bill impeached for being caught lying, prosecutors are on the record saying Hillary gave false and misleading testimony.

19: Â Whew….thanks for that extensive, comprehensive list. Â I’m glad you’ve cleared up the misconception that Republicans might have ever, ever, ever committed crimes while in public office. Â Nope, not a Republican in office who funneled no-bid contracts to companies in which they had involvement (cough-cheney-cough). Â It’s a might too easy to play this back and forth who’s Â broken the law pissing matches.

Kevin the difference between Republican and Democrats caught in any of these scandals is the Republican electorate usually won’t stand for the wrongdoing and our guys and gals know it. If they don’t resign, or aren’t forced out…the voters don’t re elect them. In liberal states, the Democrats view some of this stuff as a badge of courage. Examples,Â Ted Kennedy, Frank, Jefferson, Kirkpatrick, and on and on. Their voters aren’t comfortable making moral choices so when it comes to illegalities, even then they don’t like being "judgemental".

I am glad a lot of the old ClintonÂ crap is being brought out again by this latest Democrat scandal. One of the most interesting parts of the past was when the missing FBI files "appeared in the White House and were left on a table".Â The Clinton White House. Now how does that happen? Our memories are fleeting. I hope America doesn’t return to the days of deceit and corruption.

Holy Jesus, Kevin! Are you really an ignorant dipshit or do you just play one on the internet. I pray that you’re just playing devil’s advocate and popping off whatever bullshit comes to mind just to get a rise out of people. To whit:

If people have been so high and might about lying under oath about extra marital affairs, then perhaps all our elected officials should undergo such questioning and then letâ€™s see how many of them are truthful.

How many do you suppose have perjured themselves about extramarital affairs? Further, how many of them do you suppose have obstructed justice as POTUS???? I eagerly await your answer.

*and* leading the charge against President Clinton.

That wasn’t Gingrich. He’d resigned by then. As I understand it, it was Tom DeLay. Remember him? Liberal douchebags took him out with a indictment and STILL has not had his day in court.

Nope, not a Republican in office who funneled no-bid contracts to companies in which they had involvement (cough-cheney-cough).

In the first place, it’s not illegal. If it were, your Billy boy should be charged after the fact. Secondly, Halliburton has been working for the government about 50 years and is best suited for the job. Who would you rather have? Schlumberger (the French)? Who would have been able to do the job better?

I will give you credit that you at least didn’t spout the lie that Gingrich divorced his wife while in the hospital. Other than that, you’re an idiot.

27: Â I’d appreciate that you hold your tongue as far as the name calling goes, unless of course you’d like to provide your email address, phone number and home address so I can respond in person. Â (OK site moderator, where are you and rules for using this site??)
I’m well aware Gingrich did not hold his post at the time Clinton was impeached, but he was sure all over the place condemning Clinton for having an affair while he himself was having an extramarital affair at the exact same time. Â I personally wouldn’t know who wouldÂ perjureÂ themselves about extramarital affairs because I frankly could care less about the personal lives of most politicians, as long as they aren’t breaking laws.
Haliburton was right for the job? Â Of course they were, when the VP of the US (former head of Haliburton) arranged their no bid contract. Â Then again, Haliburton was found to have committed fraud against the US Government by overbilling/falsifying its billing for services in Iraq. Â a little oopsy-my-bad in their accounting practices?

Haliburton was the love child of Lyndon Baines Johnson. (He was a Democrat.) Every single POTUS has used them as they are unique in what they do.

Since the POTUS can be blackmailed by their extra curricular sex partners, it only makes sense that they be registered with the secret service, sign disclosure papers, have a medical clearance and be on call for the sudden presidential urge. Maybe Haliburton could manage the service.

The less Hillary says the better, this story will fade and she doesn’t need to concern herself with it. My mom made a good point, this is just another distraction from the bigger issues going on. Instead of focusing on the Wars going on, energy issues with gas prices, or the economy…the media is all over this story about a man and a call girl. It just seems silly to give it so much attention in light of fact that he didn’t abuse his power or use state money, it is his own personal hell he should be dealing with.

I probably wouldn’t be surprised if past leaders have done similar things, it just went unreported. JFK’s activities come to mind…

33. You are right, that from Hillary’s point of view, the less she says the better. But this is big news and should be discussed.

If this is only a private matter, why did the scumbag drag his wife out in public and humiliate her before the whole world?? In Judaism, public humiliation is a much more serious crime than a man’s adultery. Though I wouldn’t want to claim this guy as a model Jew.

He wasn’t simply having an affair on the side, he was breaking many laws – at the same time he was prosecuting others who are involved in the same activity. That is the real definition of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy isn’t illegal – but his activities are.

Iâ€™d appreciate that you hold your tongue as far as the name calling goes, unless of course youâ€™d like to provide your email address, phone number and home address so I can respond in person. Â (OK site moderator, where are you and rules for using this site??)

Iâ€™m well aware Gingrich did not hold his post at the time Clinton was impeached, but he was sure all over the place condemning Clinton for having an affair

So what? He was a private citizen.

I personally wouldnâ€™t know who wouldÂ perjureÂ themselves about extramarital affairs because I frankly could care less about the personal lives of most politicians, as long as they arenâ€™t breaking laws.

And yet back in #22 you said:

If people have been so high and might about lying under oath about extra marital affairs, then perhaps all our elected officials should undergo such questioning and then letâ€™s see how many of them are truthful.

So do you want to know who’s committed perjury or not? Which is it?

And you still have yet to produce any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Cheney. You just keep throwing it out there based only on the seriousness of the charge and not on any actual wrongdoing. I say put up or STFU.